Bouncing attachment for shoes



July 31, 1956 P. N. YOUTZ 2,755,517

BOUNCING ATTACHMENT FOR SHOES Filed Nov. so, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet l MAM; 0.4214 4 July 31, 1956 P,N, ou z r 2,756,517

BOUNCING ATTACHMENT FOR SHOES Filed Nov. 30, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 l/W/E/VTOA P/l/L/P A! V0072 gy w/i 7M July 31, 1956 YOUTZ 2,756,517

BOUNCING ATTACHMENT FOR SHOES Filed NOV. 30, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 /A/l/E A/ 70/? P/f/L/P IV. YOU 7'2 [is 925w; (2M

United States Patent BOUNCING ATTACHb [ENT FOR SHOES Philip N. Youtz, Yorktown Heights, N. Y. Application November 30, 1955, Serial No. 550,102 3 Claims. c1. 367.8)

This invention relates to a bouncing attachment for shoes and has for its object to provide a novel device which can be permanently or detachably secured to the bottom of a shoe and which will give the wearer of the shoe a bouncing effect when he is either walking or running, thereby enabling him to increase the length of his stride without making any increased exertion.

The bouncing attachment herein shown is in the nature of a gas inflated body of elastic material adapated to be secured to the bottom of a shoe.

When a person having shoes equipped with the bouncing attachment is walking or is running, the body of each attachment yields when it is brought into contact with the ground and carries the weight of the wearer, with the result that the gas in the body is compressed. As the wearer starts to raise his foot from the ground for the next stride, the compressed gas in the body expands and tends to lift the foot upwards and forwards, thus enabling the wear to increase his stride without making any additional effort.

The compressing of the gas in each body when it is brought into contact with the ground does not involve any extra exertion on the part of the wear as such compression is caused by the weight and momentum of the wearer, but the energy stored up in the compressed gas is released as the foot of the wearer is about to be lifted from the ground and is expended in increasing the length of the stride of the wear, as stated above.

In order to give an understanding of the invention, I have illustrated in the drawings some selected embodiments thereof which will now be described.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a side view of a shoe equipped with my improved bouncing attachment;

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 22, Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3, Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the bouncer device, the shoe to which it is attached being shown in dotted lines;

Fig. 5 illustrates an endless inflated tube which can be used in making the body member of the device shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3;

Fig. 6 is a side view of a modified form of the invention;

Fig. 7 is a bottom plan view of Fig. 6.

In the drawings, 1 indicates a shoe which may be of any suitable or usual construction, and 2 indicates generally the bouncing device embodying the invention which is attached to the shoe.

The bouncing device includes a gas inflated body 3 of elastic material, such for instance as rubber or the rubbe like material of which pneumatic tires are commonly made. Any suitable gas may be used for inflating the body 3, but it will probably be most convenient to use air for this purpose.

The bouncing device, when attached to a shoe, is designed to provide a tread portion that is larger in area than the heel and sole of the shoe to which it is attached so as to reduced the number of pounds per square inch 2,756,517 Patented July 31, 1 956 on that portion of the tread which contacts with the ground. The eflfect of this reduction in pounds per square inch will be to absorb shock and cushion the wearers feet in much the same manner as a balloon tire absorbs shock and cushions the wheels of an automobile. The body member 3 of the bouncing device is large enough to confine a considerable volume of air and has walls of sufficient area to easily stretch, thus bringing into play the elasticity of both the air and the rubber or rubber-like substance of the walls of the body member.

The body 3 of the bouncing device is preferably made with a plurality of longitudinally extending interior cham bers which have communication with each other on each end of the body, the adjacent chambers being separated by a vertical partition which extends from the top to the bottom of the body. The chambers are preferably of substantially the same size, and this feature together withv the partition serves to balance the shoe of the wearer and prevent it from tilting to one side or the other when the device is being used. Two preferred designs intended to give the shoe a solid base are hereinafter described and illustrated in the drawings, but it is to be understood that the interior chambers of the body may have other arrangements than those illustrated in the drawings without departing from the invention.

In the construction shown in Figs. 1-4 the body mem-v ber 3 has two interior chambers 4, each extending longitudinally of the body and arranged side by side, said chambers being separated by a vertically extending parin dotted lines, Fig. 5. The body member thus produced.

has the two elongated chambers 4 which communicatev with each other at each end of the body.

The body 3 may, if desired, have a shoe-positioning element mounted thereon to assist in maintaining the proper relation between a shoe and the body when the latter is attached to the shoe. The shoe-positioning member herein illustrated is indicated at 34 and it comprises a supporting portion 35 adapated to receive the sole 14 of the shoe 1 to which the device is to be attached, said support portion 35 having at each side thereof an upstanding positioning rib 36 which rises thereabove, said ribs 36 providing between them a space to receive the sole of the shoe.

The shoe-positioning member 34is preferably permanently secured to the top of the body member 3, and this may be accomplished by cementing or vulcanizing said support member to said body.

The support portion may be made of a length corresponding to that of the shoe so that not only the sole 14 of the shoe but the heel thereof will rest on said support portion. The positioning ribs 36 may extend clear around the peripheral portion of the support portion 35, in which case one section of said rib will enclose the heel of the shoe and another section of said rib vwll enclose the toe of the shoe. If so desired, the shoe-positioning member might be made of a length less than the length of the shoe, in which case the positioning rib 36 might not extend around the heel and toe portion tachably secured to the shoe. In the drawings I have shown a construction by which the body member is detachabl'y secured to the shoe so that it can be attached to the shoe when it is desired to use it and can be removed from the shoe when: the occasion for its. us has. termirhated.

In the, constructionherein illustrated, the body member is provided with two attaching members 10, which are preferably permanently secured. to: the upper portion of the side walls of the body member and each of which extends, above the body member and is provided with lacing openings 11 on its upper edge that are adapted to register With some of the lacing openings 12 with, which the shoe is provided. The attaching members; 10.

are shown as being provided, with, attaching fingers 13 which; Q erlie the side walls of the body member and.

which are vulcanized or otherwise permanently secured hereto.

In, attaching the bouncer device to a. shoe the shoepositioning member 34 is brought into engagement with thesole 14 of the shoe with. said sole occupying the space between the positioning ribs 36. and the attaching memare brought over the top. of the shoe so as. to place the openings 11 therein in register withrthe lacing openings 12 of the shoe, and then when the shoe is laced up the lacing 15 will extend through the openings. in both the shoe and the attaching members 10, and thereby the body is securely fastened to the shoe.

In order to assist in holding the device on the bottom.

of, the sh0e,,I may provide said body with, a hood member 16 at the toe portion thereof into which the toe 17 of the shoe may be inserted- This hood member 16 may be made of rubber or any suitable material and it is.

shown, asv having attaching arms 18 which overlie the sides and front of the body and are permanently secured.

thereto in any suitable way.

I may also provide a heel strap 19 which is permanently secured to the body and which assists in holding the heel portion of the body in proper position. The bottom or tread surface of the body may be reinforced if necessary or may even have a light weight tread member 20 secured thereto.

In Fig, 6 I have illustrated a differentform of body which is made in two sections, a front section 21 and a heel section 22, each section being a gas inflated memher. The front section 21 may be made in the same manner as shown with respect to the body illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, and. 3, that is, it may be made so as tov provide a central vertical partition 23 which extends lengthwise of the section 21 but not the full length thereof.

The two sections 21 and 22 are preferably permanently united together along the walls. thereof that contact with each as shown at 24, and this union can be provided by vulcanizing the two sections together. Where the body is made in two sections, each section will have its air valve 5. for inflating it, The device shown in. Figs. 6. and 7 may be attached to the shoe by the same means illustratedin Figs. 1, 2, and 3.

When. a person wearing the bouncer element is walking or: running, the weight and momentum of the wearer causes the gas in each body to be compressed when the 4 bouncer is brought against the ground, and as the wearer comrletes each stride. and s bout o li this ac the ground or supporting surface the energy stored up in the compressed gas is released and serves to propel the wearer forward, thus enabling him to increase his stride. The compression of the gas in each bouncing element does not involve any effort on the part of the wearer other than that normally exerted in walking or running, and the release of the energy stored up in the compressed gas; at each stride imparts; to. the, wearer a forward propelling force so that at Whatever speed the wearer is walking or running the use of' my improved bouncing em nt enable m t inc ease his pe without increasing 'in any way the exertion involved in the walking or runningoperation.

I claim:

1. A bouncing attachment for shoes comprising a gas inflated body composed of an endless tube of elastic material having two elongated straight; portions lying; side byside and parallel to, each other andextendinglength. wise of the body, the adjacent side walls of said elongated portions being secured together to present a vertical par-. tition extending from the top. to. the bottom of the body, whereby the body presents two elongated longitudinally extending chambers which have communication with eaoh oth r at each, end of the body, a shoe-positioning element on the top; of the body and secured thereto, and means; to attach said bodyto the bottom of a wearers shoe.

2. A bouncing attachment for shoes comprising a gas inflated body of elastic material, which body presents a front section and, a rear section connected together, each section having a separate gas receiving chamber, means. by: which each chamber can be inflated, and meansfor securing said-body: to a shoe beneath and in engagement with the sole thereof,

3. A bouncing attachment for; shoes comprising a gas, infla d b dy. c p s d o an end e ube, o e st c. terial having two elongated straight portions lying, side; by side and parallel to each other and extending; lengthwise of the body, the adjacent side walls of said elongated portions being secured together to present a verticalfpartition extending fromv the top to, the bottom of the body, whereby the body presents two elongated longitudinallyextendingchambers which have communication with each other at each endof the body, a shoe positioning element separate from the body and resting thereon and secured; thereto, said shoe positioning element having an upstanding peripheral rib which encloses a space to receive the. sole of the wears shoe, and means to attach the body-to. the shoe with the sole thereof resting on the shoe-positioning elemf nt.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

